EP1: Introduction and First Culture Shocks (and way too much bathroom talk!)
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- čas přidán 21. 10. 2020
- Check out episode 2 next▸ • EP2: Adulting 2.0 - Li...
Who are we? Why does Josh speak German so well? Why did Feli move to the US? What’s the story behind all that? And what were our very first culture shocks when visiting Germany/the US? In the first episode of Understanding Train Station, we answer all of those questions, share our goals for the podcast, and for some reason, we talked surprisingly much about bathrooms, door handles, and onion sizes…
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![EP27: A Brit in Germany feat. Rachel Stewart [DW Meet the Germans]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8w9lAnH1PMM/mqdefault.jpg)
![EP27: A Brit in Germany feat. Rachel Stewart [DW Meet the Germans]](/img/tr.png)
I was on a cruise and met a German couple and started talking to them. I said I was from Cincinnati and brought up that Cincinnati was the sister city to Munich. He looked at me with a serious face and said that Munich is in Bavaria and we don't consider Bavaria part of Germany. After a moment he grinned and laughed. I felt I just had to tell that story. They had a good sense of humor.
Man, they had a good but somewhat cruel (to you) sense of humor.
Yes, Bavaria often times feels special among the states that constitute Germany ... I guess there are states like that in the USA too.
@@hajotge12 no, not really. There's no state like Bavaria in US. Fake Oktoberfest events do not count.
@@wonderfalg He may mean a state in the US we don't consider part of the US. I would say California. They just have their own way of doing things.
@@wonderfalg Lol read that wrong.
@@hajotge12 Texas would be like that or the Upper Peninsula in Michigan
"Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof" has a very sad background. It has its origin from soldiers at the end odf the 1st world war. They were exhausted and had mental health issues and all they wanted was to get back home. The main transport method for the troops at that time was the train. So they "only understood trainstation" as they REALLY wanted to go back home.
thanks for explaining the origin. I know the English term "It's Greek to Me" was from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar as a way of implying he didn't understand what was happening.
Interesting! I never knew.
@@josephlim6854 The German term for "It's Greek to Me" would be "Das kommt mir Spanisch vor" (that sounds like Spanish) or "Ich verstehe nur Spanisch" (I only understand Spanish). For some reason for us Germans Spanish seems to be more complicated than Greek. The reason for this is probably that
Americans hear much more Spanish talking people in their live than we Germans do.
Wow! Thank you for sharing that, quite sad and fascinating.
it actually originated from the 16th centujry. Karl the 5th, who was born and raised in Spain, became the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, made a lot of changes. One of them was that everyone had to speak Spanish around him and that Spanish customs were established around him, but many people felt alienated by that....
Many greetings from the north sea coast of "good old germany". Very good idea and a wonderful opportunity to throw away cultural misunderstandings and prejudices. I wish you both a lot of strength and motivation to keep this channel alive. I am pretty amazed by Josh's german grammar as well as Feli's fluent english! Have fun!
I lived in Germany for 8 years 2 in Manheim when I was very young and 6 in Frankfurt from 70 to 76, Army brat. Have forgotten more of the language than I care to admit. Feli, is very easy for me, your American accent is almost perfect, especially when you say Cincinnaati (the double a is for the way people there speak it). I enjoy your CZcams channel, as it reminds me of the time I lived in Germany. I traveled all over Frankfurt by strasenbahn. After being in Frankfurt for so many of my formative years, it was culture shock when I returned to the States. I miss the brats and broetchen served separately, still can't get used to brats on a hotdog bun. Sorry I am rambling. Thank you for your videos and now the podcasts.
Get poor Josh a coaster so he doesn't need 5 minutes to delicately place his glass down to avoid the sound coming through :P
Each of my children took two years of German in high school. I wish there were more opportunities for them to practice speaking German. My son and I did go to Bavaria and Switzerland a couple years ago - but only for a short time. When he got to college, German wasn't an option and they required a foreign language and he took two semesters of Spanish - but he would have preferred to take more German.
Just got back from Frankfurt and something that was a complete shock was the fact that if there was white solid Line crossing the street you just simply walk across and cars will stop. Never did get used to that haha
So, a Greek Trainstation would be the ultimate
Book with Seven Seagulls 😁
Congratulations and all the best for the future of your new baby! 🤗
😆🤣😆
That one took me an little while ☺️
I thought that might be the big announcement. LOL!! 🤣
my story is actually very similar to y'alls. exchange program, then more university, then move to the US, working in the US, 20 years later i am still here... opportunities presented themselves and i jumped on them :)
This is everything I never knew I always wanted.
You are doing a super job ! I specially liked, that Josh is one on the few Americans, that speaks with a nice low, calm and not screaming voice!! Weiter so und DANKE!!
You make a great team and your interaction is infectious. The visual gives us the opportunity to watch you generously affirm each other's views. I've alway found watching body language and faces add an important dimension to any discussion like this, so don't do away with the visual option.
Agreed. They have a great chemistry and the conversation/discussion easily flowed from one topic to another.
Just discovered this from comments/link from Feli's main channel and am your 'typical' US monoglot. This is great! I find this kind of content much more interesting/engaging and educational, than 99% of what we are 'served' these days.
Welcome! :)
Feli, you've blossomed so beautifully by getting out of your comfort zone. Your new podcast is really enjoyable.
true!
So great. I took one German class in college and have really wanted to connect to my German heritage ever since. I really want to visit Germany at some point and to learn the language in the mean time.
Thanks to who ever came up with that idea.
It is always nice for me if I can just listen to some interesting stories in english. Even a hour flies by.
My homework can wait, it's podcast time.
Edit: I have finished the episode, big fan. I'll be back next week!
You guys should do a session on pay, retirement, and cost of living between the 2 countries. You guys are young and you've pointed out the some great things that are on the surface and definitely just below the surface but you have only deeper to dig now.
Feli you also speak English with no accent, something when I first found you on CZcams I found amazing, most people would never guess your not a native American.
Thank you very much. Both of you are very interesting and well spoken conversationalists. It's a pleasure listening to you talk.
I worked for a German company doing recruiting for 3 years and really got deep on the visa issues for coming into the US. We learned some really technical ways to get visas to bring our Germans into the country. Just before retiring a few months ago, I worked for a UK company for the last 6 years doing recruiting and continued to need to keep up with the immigration rules for the US (and Canada which is a very different system). It's a fascinating field and I wish I had considered being an immigration lawyer earlier in my life. I look forward to hearing the immigration stories of your guests.
I think you guys are really cool and I am happy you both have made this channel thanks
Felicia: Regarding onions, Georgia’s Vidalia onions are delicious!
I'm so excited for this podcast! :) My dad's from the US and my mom is German, and I'm bicultural/bilingual - I always love meeting people who understand both cultures! :)
Great first episode. I really liked the improvised still pictures during the camera blackout. You should consider showing images of things you're describing in the future more often, if possible. It would make the episodes on CZcams a little more special than the audio-only podcasts.
That was the idea! We tried to show all the pictures we could think of in this episode - what other things would you have liked to see visualized? :)
@@UnderstandingTrainStation German recycling bins.
Here in my house in the UK we have both door knobs and door handles. No-on gets fazed by either. I have spent a lot of time in the US and in Germany and I never even realised that in Germany there are NO door knobs and in the States NO handles. For countries that use both, its just not a big deal.
Both of you have great radio voices!!! 😊 All the very best 😊😊
A good adjustment would be having 2 cameras facing each other’s faces and switching between them when you guys talked. It’s a lot more comfortable like that, but I’m sure it’s a lot more work.
You need at least 3 cameras for that and have to do some editing.
So good to see that you now have a channel for you both :) will bingewatch the channel :)
Great first episode. Already rated it 5 stars on Apple podcasts! I studied abroad several years ago in Salzburg, Austria, and took a day trip to Munich, so I can relate to a lot of these cultural things that you mentioned. Great podcast chemistry between you two as well. Can’t wait for more!
Ah,bathrooms,I moved to San Francisco in my early 20’s & found an apartment with my SO,with a bathroom with one of those ‘shoebox’ sinks that Josh mentioned. Not only was it very small it was in the corner. A tiny triangle.plus,there was a shower too! Now,I’ve used bathrooms in Motorhomes and Travel trailers that were bigger. I’ll mention.I was 6’3”,190.5 cm & 190lbs. 86-87 kg. I think I needed to turn around to close the door. Thank you for helping me remember something I had almost forgot.
Well done and congratulations on your new venture. Thank you so much for also linking it through CZcams as, this is where I shall pick it up. Brilliant feel to this episode and I'm looking forward to the next one. Paul.
Hi Felicia and Josh, great pod cast. It remembers me to my story. My wife is from China. I know exactly what you guys are talking about. I met her here in Germany at university 17 years ago. Now we are married 12 years and we have two kids 9 and 7 years old. I lived some time in China (1 year) and normally I have been there once a year. Talking Chinese is normal to me. And talking to my wife's family is mostly in Chinese, especially with her parents. But as well I know there are language and culture traps. Great to see such things on CZcams! Very interesting. Left an abo already!
So much fun! Loved it!!
You are both interesting people! I find you both work well together . More please!
Great work guys.
this is great! Excited to see where this journey take you (and us)!
You two are so great! - Intelligent, thirsty for new knowledge, enthusiastic, and thoroughly decent, good-hearted people. Does my heart and soul good -- and I always learn a ton of stuff! Thank you!
So exciting, have fun! 🥰
Makes my day so much better listening to you!! 😃
So, I got to tell this story. Some years ago in Germany at a Convention for Fantasy Music called "filk" there was a band from Canada. And they wrote a song just for their trip to Germany. The song was all about being in a foreign country and not knowing the language. The story of the song was: The band started to learn German phrases to get along in Germany but they only remembered one phrase. That phrase was: "wo ist der Bahnhof?" - "where is the train station?" So the rest of the song was about them trying to manage every thing in Germany with only this one phrase. After the concert they learnt that by pure chance they picked the perfect phrase for this song.
I really enjoyed this! Thank you 🙏
Super... tolles Format.
Great kickoff to your podcast! Very interesting and informative. Can't wait until the next episode.
Just finished listening and I loved it! I am already looking forward to new episodes!
Greetings from the east Coast of northern Germany :)
Great show. I loved it!
Great first podcast! Y’all keep it up.
Very interesting, thank you!
Enjoyed it very much.
So awesome. New podcast is great. Love the content. Totally caught my attention. Listening to it at work. Really makes the time go quick
It looks good . It's nice to listen to you.
It's like a bedtime story. Super cool keep it up
Great first episode...I am looking forward to the next offering.
Congratulations on your new podcast! A very interesting conversation. Looking forward to more next time.
Great first podcast! I stumbled onto your CZcams channel a while ago and just love it.
Ich liebe diesen Podcast jetzt schon!
Great work!
Well done. This was quite enjoyable. I look forward to next week!
Congrats on the new podcast! Looking forward to all of the insights you will bring. Viel Glück!
Viel Erfolg, Ihr Beiden!
This fantastic. Thank you for doing this. Your both fun to listen too/watch.
I discovered your channel a few months ago during quarantine. I don’t know German and didn’t really have an interest in visiting Germany, but your channel was recommended to me. I’ve really enjoyed watching your videos and now I really enjoyed your first podcast. I love listening to podcasts while I drive, so I will be adding yours to my list. I am an English teacher in Florida and I teach high school students from around the world English as a second language.
Congrats on the new channel! Greetings from Brazil, love u guys ❤️🇧🇷🇧🇷
Both of you are great, thank you.
I am a fan of your CZcams videos but the podcast is even better. Love to hear you talking to each other!
I am from Germany but spend 10 month in the US during 11th grade for an high school exchange back in the 1990s. Long time ago but I can totally relate to much of experiences. Sehr spannend, Danke!
Really cool podcast! I like your CZcams videos Fely and I'm glad to hear you in this new format talking more extensive with Josh!
I'm a native german speaker and would love to hear some episodes with you two and especially Josh speaking German. 😊
A friend I worked with back in the mid 80s obtained another job because of his fluency in German. He was born in Germany. The company is in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania and is named Bosch/Rexroth. As a teacher, I always stress to my students who are multi-lingual to make sure they keep those languages for the future. Loved the podcast although I obviously listed via CZcams.
Great podcast! You guys definitely have to keep that up. :) I‘m gonna be back next week.
I usually always only listen to podcasts But for some reason I'm drawn to watch this one ... Great job! 👍🙂
Great job! I'm an American expat in Brno, Czech Republic and there are so many things that I can relate to in your stories. I'm looking forward to your future podcasts.
I loved this podcast. I've been a subscriber of German Girl in America for awhile. I can't wait till the next podcast.
Good first episode. It’s interesting seeing/hearing about a language and culture that I do not have a lot of exposure to.
I love that peacock wall behind you Fel!
Good luck with your new venture.
If you think that Kroger was big, you should see one of HEB’s Plus stores. Way way bigger than a regular HEB. They sell big screen TVs and grills etc etc etc.
Sorry do love your talks. Best wishes in this new endeavor. Hope you do well.
Congrats, for the new channel and podcast.
It’s going to be a super success.
If you need any thing from Brazil just send a message.
I am really interested in that podcast. I never left Europe (I live in Zurich, Switzerland). But through to your videos I noted that there are even differences between Switzerland and Germany which I've not really noticed yet. Well maybe noticed but never thought about it.
Other things even between neighboring countries I'll notice more. My parents came from Germany to Switzerland, I was born and raised here. So I was in Germany often during my childhood.
Looking forward to hearing all your stories! I watch your CZcams channel and understand now why I write a 7 with a - , and why I consider Monday the first day of the week ( my mom's side of the family is of german decent). 🙂
great idea I love it
What an unusual and fun adventure!
Very nice Project!!👍 Like it 😊
Culture, idioms, and great discussions
I work for a global company, and have been around the globe twice, so very insightful
Cool start for a podcast. Really interesting to hear you talk about your experiences. Will definitely listen to the next episodes. Also i learned now how to lock the door in a public bathroom in the U.S. :-)
About the showers i must say that i experience that sometimes even in Hotels here in Germany, that it takes a while to figure out how this particular system works. So far i always was able to figure it out without asking eventually. But there are many different systems even within Germany.
Just found your channel. It‘s awesome to listen. So interesting to hear your stories.
I‘m from Bavaria also. From a small town roundabout 150 km in the north of Munich
There is another saying in german: „Das sind böhmische Dörfer für mich“. This is (like) a bohemian village to me.
It means I don't understand something.
one more saying that is similar, but still a little different. i would use those villages when i understood what the subject is about, but i have no idea about details and what it might mean in detail since it is all new and/or foreign concept to me, but never in relation to language.
"chinese" would only apply to languages, "spanish" to something strange (phony/fake/suspicious/scam), and "Bahnhof" as some more general saying for "i don't understand" or maybe also "i'm lost" or "you lost me".
Also we have "Das ist ein Buch mit sieben Siegeln für mich.", if you know the topic in terms of its name but you want to point that you never got it.
Nie gehört
Das kommt mir aber spanisch vor...
@@frankheyder2222 das meint aber dass etwas nicht ganz richtig ist...🤔
Great job. I am German who has been living in the US for ten years now. I share many of your first experiences, Felicia. Keep up the great work guys!
Wow! Great Legs! You too Feli.
In the interests of equality we need to see more of Josh's legs!
:D nice made my day thx
@@hairyairey hey man some guys have better legs then girls.
You beat me to it. I dithered that I'd go too "fanboy" ;-)
@@hairyairey pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp
When I was a kid we used to say something was "double dutch" if we couldn't understand it. That was near Birkenhead btw.
"Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof" mostly applies to entire situations, and rarely to (an unknown) language.
@@Anson_AKB "it's all double Dutch " usually refers to a situation which is generally beyond your comprehension, not just to the language they are speaking.
@@markhornby3135 True ... just as 'it's all Greek to me' is nothing to do with the language ... R (Australia)
Ihr seit sehr sympathische Menschen !!
I had no idea this was on CZcams! Danke Feli 🙂
Awesome to see this podcast start up! Really excited to see what you will be putting out in the future!
I heard you mentioned that you taught German. Do you teach it online? I know things like babbel and Rosetta stone exist but I've been using iTalki here lately to learn one on one with a language coach to learn Icelandic and it has been, for lack of a better word, a cheat code. I have lived in Cincinnati and am from Dayton Ohio. It would be awesome to learn from somebody who is used to my accent and manner of speaking! Especially if I am to keep my goal of learning 3 languages in 5 years. Keep up the good work!
I don't currently teach online but there are many people in the US who do. :)
Both of you guys have really great "radio voices".
You guys sound & look extremely professional.
Maybe you guys should get into radio as well!
Thanks for the awesome podcast!!!
I don't speak French, but for some strange reason I like the French expression:
"Je ne sais quoi."
-I don't know....its just got a certain....I don't know what, about it!
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Sorry. Bad joke, I know. But I couldn't resist.
Bleib Deutsch, Bleib Cool🇩🇪😎
When I lived in Perlacher Forst, in Munich, I lived on Cincinnatistrasse! Cincinnati Kino is on Cincinnatistrasse in Perlacher, I lived across the street from it!
I’ve lived in Cincy all my life and never knew about CincyDeutsch. Thanks. Will have to check that out.
I think a better English translation of the train station is "It's about as clear as mud to me."
During this pandemic I like to take long walks while listening to podcasts and am glad you started this and shared it on youtube! Both of you have great chemistry and communicate in such a friendly manner that it's easy for us (well, me) to feel included. Thank you. I didn't mind the bathroom talk at all since I've had my fair share of experiences on that. Looking forward on listening to more. I've never been to Cincinnati but somehow I always associated it with skyline chili. Hopefully you'll have an episode on eating or making it at some point! hehe lol jk
Great podcast! I moved with my parents roughly every five years from country to country, staying in Europe and I definitely can feel the "strangeness" of a different culture. But also the excitement...
I went to the States with my parents on a long holiday in 1972 or 1975 and what shocked me most was seeing a swimmingpool in every garden when landing in NewYork. And later the size of the cars. So huge at that time :).
I flew the second time to the States in 2017 and then I was shocked by the lack of privacy in the toilets with all those gaps. What I also didn't know and that annoyed me a lot was that the prices on stuff don't include taxes. I got in a rant with one cashier because she would charge me more than the price indicated. She looked at me in complete disbelief... In all the literature I had gone through before the trip I hadn't been warned.
That reminds me ... talk about sales taxes and tipping next time ... R (Australia)
Ich verstehe nur Griechisch lol 😆 just kidding luv this new thing u got going on. I've been in the USA for 25 plus years,longer then I was living in Germany. And yes i'm German, was born and raised there. But now my German not that good anymore 😕, I can understand it no problem and read it same way,but speaking...not so much! That's why I like to watch you two,either talking in German or just throwing some German words in there! Keep doing what you do,awesome job. I enjoy watching and listening to you guys,Dagmar from Louisville, Kentucky
Very interesting!
Hello, thanks for this, I enjoyed this first episode very much! I'm happy you film these as I find it more engaging to have a picture vs. an audio only podcast.
Some very small suggestions as others have done: if you talk as close to the mics as possible (without popping sounds) it will sound more "radio-like" which I would expect with a podcast. Also in my opinion you can skip the images of door handles you added and really avoid any editing.
Thanks again for this and god speed :) !
liked the conversation.
I have no problem listening to a 1hr video. Especially if it involves learning new vocabulary.